Madden NFL 2004 - Strategy Guide (Page 03)

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STRATEGY: This can be one of the harder events if you don't have the right
personnel on the field. Usually, only wide receivers excel at this event, and
it's best to get someone speedy (90+) on the higher difficulties. A ring will
pop up on the blank field to tell you where the pass is coming. Immediately,
hold down B to sprint to the area of the ball. When it's launched, time it
perfectly, and press Y to leap for the catch. As the velocity of the ball
increases, so will the passing patterns. Expect to sprint up and down the field
catching balls. Also, make use of the R trigger to face the line of scrimmage so
you don't constantly have to make over the back catches.

*Don't attempt the dive for a catch (press X). It takes nearly 6 seconds for any
type of player to recover from a dive, meaning passes will be flying by while
you're on the ground. If there's no way to catch it, let it go by, and
recontinue the pattern.

Rewarded Attributes <-> CTH, JMP, ACC
 __________
/Preseason/
----------------------------
Once you finish training camp, you can then move on to the exciting Preseason.
Preseason is basically a four game set where teams play exhibition games against
other teams. It helps starters and backups get into the feeling of playing a
real life game, and is good for evaluating rookies. Unfortunately, the preseason
also yields many injuries to starters. This is one of the most doubtful risks.
Since every team in the NFL preseason plays 4 games, expect to compete against
four grueling teams.

- In all preseason games, starters are automatically substituted out after the
1st quarter. This happens in real life, and Madden 2004 does it as well. Thus,
set your depth chart with #2 players who you want to have some game time
experience.

- Any 4 year pro or less can gain attributes after the preseason is over. In
order for any 0-4 year player to gain attributes, he must have a great
preseason. If your rookie halfback scores 2 TDs, he'll usually rise a few points
in his OVR rating. Thus, it's best to play all of your young players during the
preseason, to give them a slight boost in ratings.

- Also, preseason opponents can be selected during Year 2 and beyond. You're
given the option during a new season to pick who you would like to face.
 ___________
/Owner Mode/
----------------------------
One of the premiere additions to Madden 2004 has been the hailed Owner mode.
Rather than simply managing a franchise by adding and releasing players, Owner
mode allows you to control the financial aspects of your franchise. Details can
be seen about fan attendance, support, and even your net profit. The whole idea
of making money is accounted as well. You can set ticket prices, concession
stands, and even renovate a stadium during the off-season. However, Owner mode
is split into 2 sections. You can dilly-dally around with it during the season,
and also enter the enhanced owner mode during the off-season.

- The goal of Owner mode is to keep making more money for your franchise, which
can be used to purchase more upgrades, enhancements, and perfect the experience
for the spectator. Once you click to enter Owner Mode, it splits into 3 options.

Information
----------------------------
If you've been looking for all of the statistical data behind your franchise,
this section has it. Information provides you with graphs, pie charts, and
table-split data on various topics.

<-> Fan Support - shows the interest in your franchise
*More fan support usually yields more tickets sold, and a higher profit for your
team.
<-> Attendance - actual tickets sold at each game (based on %)
*Slowly but surely, attendance increases as your team goes on winning streaks.
Also, if your team has high expectations, or is playoff caliber, attendance will
be very high.
<-> Expectations - what your fans expect of your team this year
*If your team does work than expectations, you'll lose a hefty amount of money.
However, if your team goes beyond the call of duty, you'll gain small bonuses in
sales.
<-> Income - total profit yielded
<-> Expenses - total money subtracted from income
<-> Franchise Team - shows the top players on your team and OVR at each position
<-> Stadium Info - shows upgrades installed and your current stadium
<-> City Info - shows the growth, population, weather conditions of the city

Set Prices
----------------------------
In order to make a profit, owners of NFL teams must sell tickets and yield a
profit to continue their franchise. This is why you sometimes pay outrageous
prices just to visit a football game. Thankfully, you can now control every
ticket price, hot dog that leaves a stand, and even provide advertising
campaigns. Prices are designated according to default guidelines. If you raise
or lower a price, arrows will designate how they compare to the league average.

<-> Tickets - prices for each type of seat can be set (types of seats vary based
on your stadium)
*If you really want to make a profit, set your ticket prices below average (down
red arrow) during the beginning of a season. Try to win as many games as
possible. Once your team starts to enter the playoff race, raise your ticket
prices above average. Your seats will still sell out because of huge fan
support. You can also raise prices for the playoffs to really reap in a huge
profit.

<-> Concessions - prices for foods and drinks at concession stands can be set
(types of food vary on the team)
*Most food prices should stay the same throughout the year. However, just to get
a small boost in income, raise beer and prices on your "specialty" foods. For
example, Cincinnati sells a Cincy Chili, which should probably sell for $5 since
it's a unique food.

<-> Merchandise - prices for team memorabilia can be set (all items are the same
for each team)
*Prices can be argued when set for merchandise. Based on your team's history and
prestige, it makes sense to raise jersey prices for a well know team. If you're
the Green Bay Packers, raise your jersey price to $45+. However, if you're a
lesser known team (Texans), lower prices on key items. Programs should be around
$3.

<-> Parking - fans need a place to park, and you get to charge them based on the
location (all spots are the same for each team)
*Prices should be roughly cheap for grass and lot parking spots ($5-$10). Valet
parking should be set extremely high, but besides that, parking doesn't bring in
a whole lot of income.

<-> Advertising - if you want to exploit your team's popularity, send out
advertising campaigns via multiple ways (all advertising methods are the same
except for varying Fan Appreciation Days)
*Advertising is not a necessary need for all teams. However, if you want to sell
out on one your big games, or just increase attendance, you can pay a small
amount per week. Prices range from $50K-$1.00M per week. Remember, since these
prices are based on weekly rates, make sure you don't leave it on all year. It's
nice to have one Fan Appreciation Day to reward all of those loyal fans.
Television is usually the most effective advertising method, but there's really
no discrepency between Radio and Newspaper methods.

Advisors
----------------------------
Last but not least, each franchise has a small board of advisors that give you
hints on what to do. Clicking the Advisors button brings up 5 small tips that
guide you on what actions to take. Most of them are common sense, telling you
that your Parking prices are around the league average. You'll rarely use this
feature.

- Also, if you press Y in the Owner Mode menu, it will open a Balance Sheet
showing all expenses and income. Great for seeing what needs improvement profit-
wise.
 __________________
/Starting a Season/
----------------------------
When you begin your first official franchise, the first year means so much.
Winning the Superbowl and then falling apart can be depressing. Other teams are
forced to rebuild in the first year, hopefully engaging playoff hopes in a few
years. The actual season consists of 17 games, with each team having 1 Bye week.
The trading deadline occurs during Week 6, which means you cannot trade any
players afterwards (until the season ends). In the meantime, there are some
options you should become accustomed with during the season.

Coach Options
----------------------------
- This nifty little section allows you to view your coach's gameplan, and how he
plans to win his games. You can edit his pass:run ratios, defensive behaviors
(aggressive, conservative), base defensive formation, and Runningback tendencies
(substitutions or primary back). Also, priority sliders can be adjusted for each
player on the field. If you want your offensive line to block more for the pass,
increase the priority rating, and nudge his blocking slider to the right. These
sliders affect any NON-HUMAN controlled player. They also affect statistics for
simulated games. So if you're going to be controlling the QB, and HB, reduce
their priority sliders so you can give more priority to the CPU controlled
positions.

STAT Book
----------------------------
- Check out the current statistics of your players in the past seasons, team
rankings, career stats, and even the coach ratings. These have no effect on the
output of your game, but are just designed so that you can view your current
stats.

League News
----------------------------
- Read up on the latest news in the NFL. Every transaction can be viewed for
each team (or the NFL in its entirety). Coaches placed on the hot seat are
mentioned, along with Player of the Week awards, and Horse Trailer mentions.

Features
----------------------------
- If you want to do a few things inside of your franchise, feel free to mess
around with the features. You can export your current franchise team (to be used
in exhibition play or for practice), create-a-player, or modify your team's
alternate/primary uniforms.
 _______
/Roster/
----------------------------
The roster of your team is basically who is on, and who isn't. The real NFL
requires a 53-man roster, which is large enough to include backups and special
teams players. Madden NFL 2004 allows for a maximum of 55 players on your
roster, with at least 49. During a season (and the off-season), you can do
plenty of moves to your roster. Here's just a few ways of editing them:

View
----------------------------
- Check out your current roster and edit ANY information you want on the
players. This is useful for naming those generic position players (RT #74, WR
#83), or editing height/weight details. You can view any player on any team, and
sort them out by attributes (press Y in the category heading), or even by
position (press Black/White buttons).

Injury Report
----------------------------
- View any injured players on your team or currently in the NFL. Only injured
players will show up on this list. You can also place injured people on the
Injury Reserve, which basically grays them out. You gain an extra roster spot to
use over them, this way you don't have to release your star player in case he
gets injured. Once a player is put on the Injury Reserve, they cannot be taken
off until the end of the current year.

Depth Chart
----------------------------
- This is where all the sorting of positions takes place. Players are
automatically jammed into the depth chart, and then you can resort it by
clicking their name (press A), and moving them to a new spot. Certain players
are better at other positions (a free safety playing cornerback). The CPU tends
to leave rookies off the depth chart for some reason.

Substitutions
----------------------------
- Allows you to substitute certain players on certain formations/plays. If
you've ever wanted to give your backup HB some time on runs up the middle, this
is your perfect dream. Substitutions allow you to automatically place players
permanently in certain formations, rather than constantly editing your depth
chart. Great for spreading the ball to every player.

Trade Block *New*
----------------------------
- One of the more noticeable problems with previous Madden games is that the
computer never seems to be active. Rarely will they drop players, or even make a
trade. It's about time. EA Sports added a trade block feature that allows you to
put certain players on the "trading wire", and you can request what you want for
a minimum in exchange. This is great for trading away young talent for much
needed leadership, or saving some cap room. After you make a proposal, the CPU
will make offers from various teams on your proposal. If no ones interested, you
won't receive any offers.

Trade Player
----------------------------
- Yet again, trade player is similar to the trade block, except you make the
actual trades. Players propose a trade by putting draft picks and certain
players up for another specific player or amount of draft picks. Useful during
the NFL draft to trade up to a higher pick.

Release Player
----------------------------
- This function is the only way to get rid of a player, besides retirement or
the end of a contract. Releasing a player from your team basically cuts them,
causing the previous contract void.

*Your team will take what's called a Cap Penalty when you cut certain players. A
cap penalty is a small amount you have to pay the following year whenever you
cut someone early on their contract. The amount's usually a small percentage of
that player's salary (5-10%).

Re-Sign Player
----------------------------
- If you want to re-sign a player back to your team, this is the best place to
do it. Rather than watching your beloved players enter free agency, you can re-
sign a player to a new contract. Contracts are organized by total amount, for a
certain length of year (1-7).

*If you have a star player that you want to keep, try resigning him during the
season. Most players will usually request a lot of money during the resigning
period because they know your franchise has the money to do it. You can usually
sign people back for cheaper prices.
<-><-><->
 ___________
/Off-Season/
----------------------------
Once a year is finished in your franchise, you'll begin to approach the off-
season. The off-season is a very hectic time, since you have to perform contract
negotiations, rebalance finances, and simply manage the team.

- At the end of a season, you're given the option to move to the Off-Season
Owner Mode, or Import a Draft Class. A draft class is a roster that can be
exported from NCAA 2004 in which you can bring in real-life college players to
your NFL draft.

*Unfortunately, the X-BOX version of Madden 2004 has a glitch which does not
correctly read the NCAA draft class. If you have a NCAA 2004 draft class, and
Madden 2004 does not read it, please contact EA Sports. Here's the type of
message you'll probably get:

"Thank you for contacting us about Madden NFL 2004 for the Xbox. We are
aware of the problem relative to the importing a draft class from NCAA
Football 2004 for the Xbox and want to rectify this problem as soon as
possible. In order to do so, please send us page 43 & 44 from your
Madden NFL 2004 Xbox manual with your complete shipping address written
on this page. Send original, do not send a photo copy. After Labor
day, a new disc will be sent to the address on this page (it takes this
much time to manufacture replacement product). This new disc will
resolve the problem. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you
for your time and understanding."

Send to:

Warranty
Electronic Arts
209 Redwood Shores Parkway
Redwood City, CA 94065

 ______________________
/Off-Season Owner Mode/
----------------------------
After you finish a season, the game immediately moves on to off-season owner
mode. This is where most of the ownership action takes place. Whether it be
moving to another city, or simply reorganizing your coaching staff, each plays
an important role in your team's success.

Staffing
----------------------------
- New to Madden 2004 is the ability to sign, promote, and release coaches. You
can now have a coaching staff which composed of 4 positions - Head Coach,
Offensive Coordinator, Defensive Coordinator, and Special Teams Coordinator.

- Sign Coach let's you propose a contract offer to any available or unemployed
coach in the NFL. You can release or "fire" any coach you want at the end of a
season. You may also promote a coach to a higher position (head coach).

- It's required that you have all 4 positions filled, so make sure you sign
someone to be your coach.

<-> Training Staff
- Another relatively new feature is that of the training staff. Whenever a
player gets injured on the field, your training staff rushes out to help him.
Training Staffs are similar to coachs, as they are signed on contracts (a couple
million dollars $$ for a few years).

*Training staffs are rated according to 3 attributes:
-- REC (quicker recovery from injuries)
-- PRV (prevention of injuries)
-- KNW (knowledge of injuries, and the extent of damage)

**If you want the best training staff, I'd go with the best Recovery time.
Injuries are usually inevitable in the NFL, so you're best off just going with a
quick recovery time.

<-> Coach Progression
- Much like players, coaches progress as well during the off-season. In order
for a coach to progress, his players must progress as well. Although the exact
formula isn't know, I'm pretty sure the OVR progression of each position affects
your coach's individual +/-. Coaches are also rated with individual attributes.

-- MOT (motivation, improves player's OVR)
-- ETH (work ethic, preparation for games/??)
-- CHM (team chemistry, improves teamwork/AWR)
-- KNW (knowledge, improves route running of players)
-- OFF (offensive knowledge, improved ratings towards offensive players)
-- DEF (defensive knowledge, improved ratings towards defensive players)
-- OL (offensive linemen)
-- QB (quarterbacks)
-- RB (runningbacks)
-- WR (wide receivers)
-- DL (defensive linemen)
-- LB (linebackers)
-- CB (defensive backs)
-- S (safeties)
-- K (kickers)
-- P (punters)

*Based on how well your actual players progress at each position, your coach's
ratings will improve as well. Coaches with high ratings in certain positions
will boost the ratings of all players at that position. For example, if you had
Mike Singletary as your Head Coach, linebackers and defensive players would
receive a boost in their ratings. Coach ratings tend to reflect simulated stats
as well.

 ________
/Stadium/
----------------------------
There are numerous types of stadiums that football teams play in. Some are
simply grass layered fields, while others are mass combinations of concrete and
steel. One of the more architectural additions to Madden 2004 is the ability to
create/edit stadiums. During the off-season owner mode, you can rename,
renovate, rebuild, relocate, or upgrade your stadium by spending extra income
money left over.

Rename
----------------------------
If the generic name of your stadium isn't good enough, you can manually rename
it to something else. Besides that, you can also hire "sponsorship" deals which
automatically rename your stadium to a specific company or product. If your team
meets the requirements of the renaming contract (makes it to the playoffs, or
earns at least 12 wins), you receive a special cash bonus. This is quite nifty
for bringing in some extra cash. Otherwise, you can just rename the stadium like
a player to whatever you want, sponsor free.

Renovate
----------------------------
In order to renovate your stadium, it must be a USER-CREATED stadium. This means
that you manually created a new stadium, and now want to edit it. You CANNOT
modify the default stadiums in the game for each of the NFL teams. This is why
the option is usually grayed out.

*Renovation requires a large essence of money. Try to gather some extra income
over a few years.

Rebuild
----------------------------
There are four steps in the rebuilding process. First, Madden 2004 permits you
to create your own stadium with a special editor program that let's you
customize every angle of the structure.

<-> Design Stadium
- In total, there are 8 sections to a stadium that can be modified. The
Northern/Southern End Zones, Western/Eastern Sidelines, Field, Roof, South
Corner, and general Info.
- Seats can be changed to different styles by pressing left or right on the
control pad. You can have normal seats, inlet (slightly pushed back), booth, or
bench seats based on what deck you're on. Also listed on the screen is the
current capacity of the stadium, and the total cost, which can be used as
guidelines.
- Designing a new stadium roughly costs around $200 million to $250 million.
Expect to be in debt for several years.
- New stadiums must be built when you relocate a team.

<-> Secure Funds
- After you come up with the plans for the stadium, you then have to secure a
rough amount of funds. A certain amount in millions of dollars can be taken as
"Team Contributions", which is basically your city's funding. This can hurt fan
support since the funding comes out of that home city's taxes.
- Additional money can (and should) be taken out of Personal Seat Licenses.
These are basically licenses that help raise money to support the stadium.
Unfortunately, the higher the amount you take, the more it hurts fan support for
the following season.

<-> Submit Proposal
- Once the financial and engineering aspects of the stadium are complete, the
player must then submit the outline to the "council." Basically, a council votes
on whether or not the proposal is approved. There's a meter to help guide you on
what the success of the bill being passed is.
- Unfortunately, many new stadium plans get rejected unless you're relocating,
or have some money to spare. Most U.S. cities don't hand over millions of
dollars unless they're positive that it will attract people.

<-> Finalize
- If your entire plan is accepted, you can then sum the operation up for
completion.
- Each new stadium built has an estimated Date of Completion, meaning you won't
receive a new stadium right away.

Relocate
----------------------------
If you really want to make full use of franchise mode, you'll eventually be
forced to relocate certain franchises. Eventually, if your team doesn't
establish itself as a dominant force, relocating is the only option to save a
certain team or franchise. Basically, relocating a NFL franchise means that it
will be moved to a new city, and a new stadium is built.

- If you decide to relocate, sometimes you will receive offers from other cities
at the end of a season. Offers consist of a dollar amount that the city is
willing to contribute, plus, fan support will be an automatic plus.

- Relocating puts you in the largest amount of debt, so use it sparingly. There
are over 100 cities you can pick from, ranging from Los Angeles, California to
Bismarck, North Dakota. Cities have individual team desires, weather conditions,
and population/growth. Make sure you pick a city that has high desire, since you
don't want to be in debt forever.

- After you successfully relocate, you enter Rebuilding mode. It's the same as
building a new stadium.

Upgrade
----------------------------
Finally, if you don't want to make any major moves, you can simply purchase
upgrades for your stadium. Upgrades increase fan support, attendance, and make
your spectators more comfortable at the game. Unfortunately, they cost extra
bucks, so make sure you have the assets to spare. Here's a list of the known
upgrades available to all stadiums:
__________________________________________________________________________
| Upgrade                 | Total Cost | Cost per year | unique advantage|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
EA Arcade                 |  2.00 M    |   500k        | entertainment   |
Cup Holders               |  2.00 M    |    50k        | drink holders   |
Internet Cafe             |  2.10 M    |   100k        | entertainment   |
Gourmet Chefs             |  2.40 M    |   500k        | yummy food      |
Retractable Glass Windows |  6.10 M    |   1.00 M      | better view     |
Medical Facility          |  8.15 M    |   2.00 M      | medic           |
English Pub               |  8.15 M    |   1.50 M      | entertainment   |
High Fidelity Audio System|  9.15 M    |   500k        | entertainment   |
Super Screen              |  10.15 M   |   1.00 M      | entertainment   |
Personal Audio Systems    |  12.20 M   |   2.00 M      | entertainment   |
Massage Seats             |  15.25 M   |   3.05 M      | comfort         |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Once you purchase an upgrade, it cannot be bought again. They're also kept
track of in the Stadium Info, under the Upgrades bar.

 ____________
/Progression/
----------------------------
Certainly one of the more intriguing features inside of Madden is the ability to
watch your players become better or worse. Previously installed a few years
back, progression is how your players advance through an NFL playing career.
Progression is primarily based off of the player's stats, meaning someone who
has a breakout season usually has a breakout in overall. There are a few
guidelines as to how progression works.

- The older the player, the higher chance of a decrease in progression. If old
players do get playing time, they will quickly rot away on the bench.

- Progression becomes constant as long as the player's stats increase each year
by a few or more. If a player does less than their expected amount, they usually
will not progress at all.

- Every single player on your team is eligible for progression.

- For offensive players, touchdowns seem to have the biggest boost in ratings.
Linemen usually increase based on the amount of sacks/pancakes. Defensive
players greatly increase based on interceptions.

<-> The following is a list of attributes which progress throughout Madden. Key
attributes have *'s next to them. Attributes with a ^ mean they're important for
a specific position. For example, an offensive linemen needs PBK or RBK for
blocking skills. Overall is the basic sum of all of the player's ratings.
__________________________________________________________________________
| Attribute | Definition        | Purpose                                |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    OVR*    | Overall           | main sum of your player's ratings      |
    Age*    | age of player     | determines when he will retire         |
    SPD*    | speed             | how fast your player moves             |
    STR     | strength          | ability to block, break a tackle,      |
            | ...               | catch a ball in traffic                |
    AWR*    | awareness         | make intelligent football decisions    |
    AGI     | agility           | determines how fast a player can cut   |
            | ...               | back, turn, perform a special move     |
    ACC     | acceleration      | how fast the player can break from the |
            | ...               | line                                   |
    CTH^    | catch             | how well a player can catch a ball     |
    CAR     | carry             | how well a player can carry a ball     |
    JMP     | jump              | how high a player can jump             |
    BTK     | break tackle      | how well a player can break a tackle   |
    TAK^    | tackle            | how well a player can tackle another   |
    THP^    | throwing power    | how fast or far a QB can throw         |
    THA^    | throwing accuracy | how accurate or precise a QB can throw |
    PBK^    | pass blocking     | how well a player can block on a       |
            | ...               | passing play                           |
    RBK^    | run blocking      | how well a player can block on a       |
            | ...               | running play                           |
    KPW^    | kicking power     | how far a player can kick the ball     |
    KPA^    | kicking accuracy  | how wide the yellow meter is           |
            | ...               | (for kicking)                          |
    KR      | kick return       | how well of a kick returner the player |
            | ...               | is, blocking schemes improve when this |
            | ...               | player returns the ball (PR/KR)        |
    IMP     | importance        | significance of the player to your     |
            | ...               | franchise, usually is higher based on  |
            | ...               | player's OVR, increases their trade    |
            | ...               | value                                  |
    STA     | stamina           | how long it takes for the player to    |
            | ...               | decrease in energy                     |
    INJ     | injury            | the chance of the player becoming      |
            | ...               | injured on the field, lower is worse   |
    TGH     | toughness         | how quickly the player recovers from   |
            | ...               | an injury                              |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

*OVR pretty much sums up how decent the player is.

*Age determines both when they will retire, and a decline/increase in
progression. Most old players decrease naturally due to age.

*SPD is by far one of the most important attributes on the field. Everything in
Madden is based around time. High speed ratings (90+) are scarce in the NFL,
thus making them rare to find.

*AWR is basically the mental ability of the player. High AWR means the player
will make a lot of clutch plays, and improve the abilities of players
surrounding him. Unfortunately, rookies often have extremely low AWR (40-60),
and veterans tend to have high AWR. It's basically a way of measuring experience
in the NFL.

*Any other ^ rating basically affects an individual position. Receivers need
excellent catching, while blockers need RBK/PBK. Kickers need KPW/KPA, and QBs
should have high THP/THA. While CAR is important for RBs, fumbles don't occur
too often in Madden.

 ________________________
/Off-Season Transactions/
----------------------------
Once you finish with the Off-Season Owner Mode, and renovate your franchise, you
can then move onto the actual franchise moves. Off-Season is an ordered schedule
that must occur in a specific procedure. Each procedure usually has certain
restrictions or limits which will be explained.

Retired Players
----------------------------
After the completion of an NFL season, players will retire due to personal and
career reasons. Sometimes the going gets tough, and there simply isn't a spot
for them in the NFL. When a player retires, they forfeit the REST of their
CONTRACT. This means any designated money in their contract is now rewarded back
to your team. In a sense, this helps your team since it allows the young players
to get a slot on your team, while giving some finance back as well.

- Players will retire because of old age, or NFL Pro Years. Players will retire
fairly young (early 30s) if they've been in the NFL for 7+ years.

- Career-Ending injuries always force players to retire at the end of a season.

- Some retired players do become available coaches who can be signed in a few
years. Great for getting your favorite superstar like Jerry Rice!

Re-Sign Players
----------------------------
Whenever a player's contract runs out of years in the NFL, you're given first
dibs on resigning them. Basically, any NFL team who has a player on contract
always gets the first chance to renegotiate them before they enter the free
agency market.

- Players who have 0 years left on a contract must be either resigned, or cut by
your team.

- Salaries work the same way as signing a player. Contracts are paid in TOTAL
amount, and are capable of having bonuses. Resigning a player at the end of the
year tends to be more costy. Try to resign them during a season if possible.

- If you don't feel like doing the cuts, you can simply press START, and click
the button CPU Resign. The computer will resign players it feels that are
necessary to the franchise. For some odd reason, the CPU cuts an awful large
amount of players during this process. So try to resign as many as possible.

Rookie Scouting
----------------------------
***I'd like to give credit to JLawson's Rookie Scouting FAQ for the list of
scouting tests, what ratings they represent, and the ratings in correlation to
what each test stands for.***

Before you can successfully draft your first NFL rookie, there's some time and
preparation that must be made. Madden 2004 allows you to scout all sorts of
rookies before actually drafting them. The scouting period is when NFL scouts go
out, and have rookies perform various tests while they're being evaluated. These
tests range from 40 yard dashes, to vertical jumps, and weight bench reps.

- When you begin your scouting of rookies, there are 3 stages it's split into.
Basically, each of these stages allows you to spend 15 designated points by
checking a player to be scouted by your professional staff. Each scouting stage
provides a different comment/note added to the player's profile, so you can see
what their ups and downs are.

- You can only scout up to 15 players each round, no more than that number.
Press the A button to check a player's box. Once you used all of your 15 points,
press Start to have the scouting list scouted. After you complete all three
stages, the final draft assortments are taken in place, and you can view the
complete profiles of all the players in the draft, or who you scouted.

*Players are tested in several different scouting tests. Each represent a
certain player's attribute in Madden NFL 2004. The follow is a list of what each
test stands for:

40 time <-> SPD
Shuttle <-> ACC
Cone Drill <-> AGL
Bench Reps <-> STR
Vertical <-> JMP
Interview <-> AWR

- Certain positions have specific word categories designed to help you in
analysis. For example, wide receivers have Hands (represents catching ability),
while certain halfbacks may have Kick Return (another way of showing how well
they are on kick returns). These categories are described with simple phrases,
rather than actual statistical data.

**Rankings of these words range from:

Amazing, Great, Good, Above Average, Average, Below Average, Bad, Terrible

<->The following is a small list of what each scouting test represents in terms
of Madden attributes. These numbers are not 100% accurate, but should be used as
a general assistant in deciding who to draft.

PLEASE thank JLawson (GameFAQs username) for taking the time to figure out these
ratings.

40 Time
<->Represents Speed<->
(4.24 - 4.35) == [90-99]
(4.36 - 4.52) == [80-89]
(4.53 - 4.67) == [70-79]
(4.68 - 4.81) == [60-69]
(4.82 - 4.76) == [50-59]
(4.99 - 5.10) == [40-49]

Shuttle
<->Represents Acceleration<->
(3.75 - 3.92) == [90-99]
(3.93 - 4.09) == [80-89]
(4.10 - 4.25) == [70-79]
(4.26 - 4.44) == [60-69]
(4.45 - 4.64) == [50-59]
(4.65 - 4.82) == [40-49]
(4.83 - 5.05) == [30-39]

Cone
<->Represents Agility<->
(6.60 - 6.82) == [90-99]
(6.83 - 7.05) == [80-89]
(7.06 - 7.28) == [70-79]
(7.29 - 7.51) == [60-69]
(7.52 - 7.75) == [50-59]
(7.76 - 7.97) == [40-49]
(7.98 - 8.20) == [30-39]

Bench Reps
<->Represents Strength<->
(38 - 44) == [90-99]
(30 - 37) == [80-89]
(24 - 29) == [70-79]
(18 - 23) == [60-69]
(12 - 17) == [50-59]
 (6 - 11) == [40-49]

Vertical
<->Represents Jump<->
(42 - 39) == [90-99]
(36 - 38) == [80-89]
(33 - 35) == [70-79]
(30 - 32) == [60-69]
(27 - 29) == [50-59]
(24 - 26) == [40-49]
(21 - 23) == [30-39]

- The following are word description ratings. Sometimes you'll get a rookie who
will burst out of the range with an extremely high or low one compared to the
numbers. This is just a list of COMMON ratings to what each word means.

Amazing == [85-95]
Great == [75-85]
Good == [68-79]
Above Average == [64-77]
Average == [54-68]
Below Average == [46-57]
Bad == [40-50]
Terrible == [10-20]

NFL Draft
----------------------------
The NFL Draft is one of the exciting parts of the year where young and awaiting
prospects get selected by professional teams. In the NFL Draft, you can select
any eligible athlete, which means you get first picks on offering him a
contract. It's basically like re-signing, except no one can offer him a contract
until you're finished with him. The NFL Draft takes place in 7 rounds, with all
32 teams having a draft pick each round. The order of the picks is based on your
season's record, meaning the worst and Superbowl teams pick first and last,
respectively.

It's quite common for trades and minor adjustments to occur during the draft.
Draft picks do hold value, and can be traded for players or lower/higher picks.
The advantage to doing this is that you can get an all-star player at the cost
of a lower player, and low round pick. Unfortunately, giving up a draft pick
gives you one less chance to pick a possible phenom.